The Tahoe Knight Monsters took on the Wichita Thunder on Wednesday. Puck drop was at 7:00 PM. The game was at the Tahoe Blue Event Center in Stateline, Nevada. It was the seventieth game of the season. The Knight Monsters were coming off of a 7-0 victory over the Utah Grizzlies. The Tahoe Knight Monsters had a record of 41-23-5. The Knight Monsters were in 7th place in the ECHL. The Knight Monsters were 3rd in the Western Conference and 2nd in the Mountain Division. The Thunder played sixty-nine games. The Thunder were coming off of a 2-0 win over the Allen Americans. The Thunder had a record of 38-24-7. The Thunder were in 11th place in the ECHL. The Thunder were in 5th place in the ECHL Western Conference. The Thunder were in 3rd place in the ECHL Western Conference Mountain Division.
#1 Jesper Vikman got the start in net for the Tahoe Knight Monsters. It was his 24th game played this season. On Tuesday, defender Evan Junker was placed on 14-day injured reserve by the Knight Monsters. On Wednesday, the Knight Monsters signed defender Linden Alger. Forward Adam Pitters was activated from 3-day reserve by the Knight Monsters. Forward Cal Kiefiuk and defender Linden Alger were placed on reserve by the Knight Monsters. Forward Isaac Johnson was placed on 3-day injured reserve by the Knight Monsters. #33 Trevor Gorsuch got the start in net for the Wichita Thunder. It was his thirtieth game played this season. On Monday, goaltender Samuel St-Hilaire was moved from 3-day to 14-day injured reserve by the Thunder. On Wednesday, forwards Nolan Burke and Joe Carroll were activated from 14-day injured reserve by the Thunder. Forward Spencer Blackwell was placed on reserve by the Thunder. Forward Ryan Finnegan was placed on 3-day injured reserve.
Five minutes into the first period, the Wichita Thunder took the lead. The goal was scored by #18 Kobe Walker. His goal was assisted by #22 Michal Stinil and #12 Peter Bates.
Seven minutes into the game, Patrick Newell of the Tahoe Knight Monsters received a penalty for tripping. With under eight minutes left in the first period, the Knight Monsters tied the game. The goal was scored by #21 Sloan Stanick. His goal was assisted by #12 Bear Hughes.
The score was tied at 1-1 after the first period.
A minute into the second period, the Wichita Thunder took the lead. The goal was scored by #85 Nolan Burke. His goal was assisted by #27 Nolan Kneen and #19 Joe Carroll.
Eight minutes into the secone period Kobe Walker of the Thunder received a penalty for high-sticking. Eleven minutes into the second period, the Tahoe Knight Monsters scored to tie the game. The goal was scored by #10 Jett Jones. His goal was assisted by #19 Luke Adam and #49 Artur Cholach.
With under four minutes left in the second period, the Tahoe Knight Monsters took the lead. #15 Jake McGrew scored the goal. His goal was assisted by #21 Sloan Stanick.
With under three minutes left in the second period, the Thunder tied the game. The tying goal was scored by #29 Luke Grainger. His goal was assisted by #23 Mitchell Russell.
With five seconds left in the second period, the Knight Monsters retook the lead. The goal was scored by #12 Bear Hughes. His goal was assisted by #21 Sloan Stanick.
The score was 4-3 Tahoe Knight Monsters going into the third period.
In between the second and third periods, the game between the Kansas City Mavericks and Idaho Steelheads concluded. The final score for that game was 4-2 Kansas City Mavericks. With that Idaho Steelheads loss the Tahoe Knight Monsters had secured a playoff spot.
A minute into the third period, Joe Carroll of the Wichita Thunder received a penalty for holding. This play resulted in Jake Johnson of the Tahoe Knight Monsters leaving the game. Four minutes into the third period, Adrien Bisson of the Knight Monsters received a penalty for interference. Seven minutes into the third period, the thunder tied the game. The goal was scored by #10 Dillon Boucher. His goal was assisted by #28 Will Zapernick and #83 Jake Wahlin.
With under seven minutes remaining in the game, the Thunder took the lead. #92 Declan Smith scored the go ahead goal. #14 Artem Guryev and #29 Luke Grainger got the assists.
The Tahoe Knight Monsters were able to force overtime with a goal by #26 Nate Kallen with one second remaining in regulation time. His goal was assisted by #14 Patrick Newell and #28 Logan Nelson.
The score was tied at 5-5 after regulation time. The game would go into overtime.
Five minutes into overtime, Reid Irwin of the Wichita Thunder received a penalty for tripping. Neither team scored in overtime. The game remained tied at 5-5. The game went into a shootout.
#22 Michal Stinil of the Wichita Thunder was the only player to score in the shootout.
The final score was 6-5 Wichita Thunder.
Early in the first period, a Wichita Thunder player was sent off for not wearing a neck guard. He did return. Things were tied up after one. There was a delay to start the second period due to ice conditions. The Tahoe Knight Monsters had the lead thanks to a late goal going into the third period. The holding call in early in the third should have been a boarding call. The Thunder did get a breakaway on that penalty but it was saved. The other third period call for interference was soft. The fourth Thunder goal which tied the game was scored on a bad bounce. The Knight Monsters sent the game into overtime at the last second. Then on the powerplay in overtime they were being too fancy. They had solid opportunities to take more shots but did not. Then the game was decided in the shootout. The big story from the game is that the Knight Monsters secured a playoff spot. This was one of the funnest games this season. The crowd was into it for most of the game. The last minute of the game were wild. Everyone was standing. Drums and cowbells were going. When the Knight Monsters scored, everyone went crazy. The energy in the building was like playoff energy. The Knight Monsters still walked away with a point.
The Tahoe Knight Monsters had five more shots. The Wichita Thunder had the better shot percentage. The Thunder had two more penalty minutes. #1 Jasper Vikman saved 20 shots for a 77% save percentage for the Tahoe Knight Monsters. #33 Trevor Gorsuch saved 26 shots for an 84% save percentage for the Wichita Thunder.
The Tahoe Knight Monsters have a record of 41-23-6 with 88 points in 70 games. The Knight Monsters are still in 7th place in ECHL. They are still in 3rd place in the ECHL Western Conference. They are still in 2nd place in the ECHL Western Conference Mountain Division. They have the second highest points percentage in the division.
The Tahoe Knight Monsters are the second team in the ECHL Western Conference Mountain Division to secure a playoff spot. The Kansas City Mavericks are the other team. The Mavericks have also won the division regular season title. The Knight Monsters need one more win to secure second place in the division. The Wichita Thunder need three points to secure a playoff spot. They need another win and an overtime or shootout loss. They can also get into the playoffs if the Idaho Steelheads or Tulsa Oilers lose their remaining games. The Tulsa Oilers need three points to secure a playoff spot. They need a win and an overtime or shootout loss to secure a playoff spot. They can also get into the playoffs of the Idaho Steelheads both of their remaining games. The Idaho steelheads need five points as things to get into the playoffs. They need to win all of their remaining games to come close to that. The Steelheads are only one point out right now. They may be able to get into the playoffs with just an overtime or shootout loss. The Steelheads are so close. The Thunder, Oilers, and Steelheads are all within two points of each other. One of them will make the playoffs, the other two will be eliminated. The Rapid City Rush, Utah Grizzlies, and Allen Americans are already eliminated from playoff contention. If the playoffs started today the Tahoe Knight Monsters would face the Wichita Thunder in the first round.
The Tahoe Knight Monsters take on the Wichita Thunder for game seventy-one on Friday, April 11th. It will be a home game. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:30 PM. This will be a divisional game. It will be the second of three games against the Thunder. The Knight Monsters have two games remaining in the regular season.
Zac Electrifly 
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